Pitch in: Recycling takes hold at 'Berg

With the return of students to campus this fall, the University Sustainability Committee is excited to announce a new, comprehensive recycling program.
 
The centrally coordinated recycling system, initially for office paper, newspaper, cardboard, plastic and aluminum cans, will fully implemented soon. Staff members from Krammes Service Center will coordinate the efforts with work study students who will manage the recycling waste on a weekly basis.
 
Students will notice new cans and collection bags for recycling popping up in places like Rock Creek Café, offices and residence halls. Posters around campus spell out guidelines for the types of materials being recycled on campus.
 
With assistance from the Ottawa-Sandusky-Seneca County Joint Waste Management District, the Sustainability Committee applied for and received a grant to purchase the materials to implement the program. With the grant funds, Heidelberg purchased recycling collection containers. Plastic and aluminum will be deposited in 45-gallon trash cans made of partially recycled materials. Recycling collection containers for newspaper and office paper will be reusable polypropylene bags, mounted on 100 percent recycled polycarbonate racks. Labels were spray painted on the cans with low-toxicity paint. Personnel to manage the recyclable waste and a company to haul the waste are part of the new campus initiative.
 
We can’t initiate meaningful change without your help. Here are several ways you can become involved:
•    When you finish reading the New York Times or USA Today, recycle it.
•    When your plastic bottle or aluminum drink can is empty, rinse it and recycle.
•    When you clean off your desk, throw your office paper in the recycling bags.
•    Encourage others to recycle.
•    Look for additional information regarding the recycling initiative around campus.
 
Posted on Aug. 18, 2009